Railway-rail joint.



No. 703,979.v

RAILWAY BAIL JOINT.

(Application led Nov. 12, 1900.)

(No Model.)

Patented July 8, |902.

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`mms PffERS PHDTD-LITHO HINGYOQI, D. C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM J. AUSTIN, OF MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO PERMILLIAAUSTIN. i

RAILWAY-RAIL JOINT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 703,979, dated July 8,1902.4

Original application ledMarch 3, 1898, Serial No. 672,422.

Divided and this application filed November 12, 1900. Serial- No.36,211. (No modelo' To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. AUSTIN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Milwaukee, county of Milwaukee, and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Railway-Rail Joints, of whichthe following is a specification.

My invention consists in improvements in railway-rail joints, ashereinafter set forth, the invention being in the nature of amodification of or improvement upon that set forth in Letters Patent No.593,345, granted to me under date of November 9, 1897, and being also adivision of a former application, SerialNo. 672,422, filed March 3,1898, for Letters Patent for method and means for formingrailway-joints.

The present invention contemplates fusion of the faces of the rails andthe inner walls or faces of the sleeve or coupling by and with themolten metal poured into the space between them under all workingconditions and the consequent formation of an exceedingly strong andperfect joint well adapted to constitute an electrical bond between therailsections. The improved construction also permits of readyapplication or use of the invention in connection with rails already inposition without detaching them from their ties, yokes, or othersupports.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 isv a side elevation of themeeting or proximate ends of a pair of rails, showing my inventionapplied thereto, a portion of the sleeve being broken away to showcertain openings formed in the web of the rail; Fig. 2, a transversesectional view on the line a; of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, asimilar transversesection on the line y gj of Fig. l; Fig. 4., a transverse sectional viewshowing a modified form of a sleeve which may conveniently be made ofrolled steel or other metal; Fig. 5, a side elevation of the same.

The same reference-letters are used throughout the following descriptionto indicate like parts.

Briefly stated, the joint or coupling comprises the meeting ends of tworails, a sleeve or coupling member extending a suitable disrails and anoutside sleeve or coupling memj ber by an intervening bodyof moltenmetal which first fuses the surfaces with which it comes into contactand later cools and unites the several parts to form an integral body isnew and original with me. This constitutes the leading feature of myinvention; but incidental thereto are other features, which will be morefully explained in the course of the following description.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2, and 8, I will describe an embodiment ofmy invention well adapted to be carried out through the aid ofcast-metal sleeves or coupling members. In these figures, A and A'indicate two angular metal sections of like length and of substantiallylike form, which being placed with their lower iianges in edge contact,as at F, constitute a sleeve or couplingmember, the base-flanges of themembers A and A being of such width as jointly to extend across theunder faces of the rail-bases orbottom anges. Vhen formed of cast metal,and, if desired, when formed of any other metal or alloy, the endportions of the members A and A may be made to conform to the contour ofthe rails, so as to lit closely over the baseilanges and against thevertical webs thereof. The parts so made and applied may be tiedtogether in any convenient manner, either by clamps or, as is preferred,by means of bolts or rivets G passing through the members A A' andthrough the` web of the rail and headed or provided with nuts, as foundexpedient. In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the fastenings are represented as in theform of rivets.

The member A is formed with an outwardly-bent lip or edge to constitutea pouring-mouth a, through which to introduce molten metal to form thefilling B B. In practice it is deemed advisable to form perforations inthe webs C, so that the molten metal poured in through the pouring-moutha may fill the space between the web C and the member A of the sleeve orcoupling and passing through the perforations fill also the spacebetween the web C and the member A; but obviously the two sides may beseparately poured,ifdesired. When the perforations are provided, unitingbodies I, of metal, connect the two bodies B and BQ of cast metal, andfusing thewalls of the perforations and uniting therewith they insure amore perfect electrical bond than would be in all cases obtainablewithout such perforations. This is because the metal, so long as hotenough to find its way through the openings, will be able to fuse theexposed edges of the relatively thin web, where it might not be hotenough to fuse the flat faces ofthe web or to do so perfectly andefciently.

As shown in Fig. 3, the members A and A of the sleeve or coupling areformed with lugs or projections H, extendinginward therefrom anddesigned to bear upon or overhang the base ange D, thereby preventingthe members A and A from dropping below their proper level or fromrising.

It will readily be seen that the sleeve, consisting of the parts A andA, applied to the rails and held in place by the lugs or projections Hand the bolts or rivets G, constitutes in itself a quite strong and firmconnection between the rail-sections, which connection is vastlystrengthened by the cast-metal body introduced between the rail and thesleeve and united by fusion to both. The electrical conducting capacityof the joint so formed is very great, and there is, in fact, no increaseof resistance offered by them over that of the rails themselves.

Figs. 4L and 5 represent a construction in all material respects thesame as that of Figs. l, 2, and 3 except that the members A and A aresomewhat lighter and have projections H formed in them by rolling, saidprojections taking under such construction the form of a continuous ribor bead. This embodiment of the invention is more particularly designedwith reference to the use of wrought metal, as rolled steel or iron.

As shown in Fig. 5, the vertical wallof each member A and A may be cutorsevered along the line of the bead and bent inward to bear against theweb of the rail to form a closure for the end of the sleeve or coupling.This will of course be done before the parts are assembled, and theinturned portion will be cut or fashioned to conform more or lessclosely to the contour of the web and base. Obviously, however,temporaryclosing blocks or plugs may be employed and the inturning of the endsdispensed with.

I deem it preferable to employ ordinarily the divided sleeve orcoupling, for the reason that it may be readily applied to rails inposition and while fastened to their ties, yokes, or other supportswithout other disturbance than the mere lifting of the rails to a heightof about a half an inch or sufficient to permit It is obvious that theform and dimensions of the sleeve or coupling may vary considerablywithout departing from the scope or spirit of my invention, which,asbefore stated, consists, primarily,in uniting the rail-sections and thesleeve or coupling by an intervening body of cast metal fused to both.

The rivets of the fastenings by whichthe members A and A of the sleeveor coupling are held together may be permanent or temporary, aspreferred, and when the integral sleeve is employed they may be whollyomitted.` Rolled-steel sleeves are found admirably suited tothe purposesof the present invention; but cast metal, alloys, or other substancespossessing the requisite strength and conducting capacity may be madeuse of.

In the drawings I have represented the upright walls of the sleeve orcoupling as set some distance away from the web C on both sides; butthis is a matter of option, the space on either side or on both sidesbeing made greater or less, as shall be found expedient in any givencase.

The fusion of the faces of the sleeve and web by the introduced metaleffects a perfect and exceedingly strong joint or connection, whichenables vme to dispense with bolts, rivets, or even interlockingshoulders to be engaged by the filling, though it is preferred to makeuse of the through connections I as a means for better insuring a firmand indestructible joint.

- Since the mode of manipulating molds, the use of fluxes, and likematters incident to fusion and casting of metals are within the commonknowledge offounders and metallurgists, it is perhaps unnecessary afterstating that fusion is in all cases to vbe effected to add that in coldor damp weather or when the metal is not suliiciently heated or when thesleeve or coupling contains so great a mass as to unduly chill thepoured metal the sleeve or coupling may be heated to advantage, andsuitable flux may beemployed to facilitate the union of the contactingsurfaces by fusion. The heating is in some cases eected by placing thesleeve directly in afheatingchamber before setting it in position, andin other cases it is heated by causing the molten metal to overrunsuflciently for the purpose.

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I2C v It is frequently unnecessary to perform the heating of the sleeve,however, and hence I do not confine myself thereto.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A rail-jointcomprising the proximate ends of two rail lengths; a sleeve partiallyencompassing said ends; and a filling of metal between the sleeve andthe rails, and united to both by fusion.

2. A railjoint comprising the proximate ends of two rails; a sleeve orcoupling partially encompassing said rail ends; and a body of cast metalfilling the space between the rails and the sleeve, passing through thewebs of the rails, and united by fusion both to the rails and to thesleeve.

3. In combination with the proximate ends of two railway-rails alongitudinally-divided sleeve or coupling applied to and partiallyencompassing said rail ends; and a filling of cast metal within thesleeve and united to the sleeve and the rails by fusion.

4. In combination with two rails; a sleeve or coupling comprisingmembers A and A overlapping the meeting-point of said rails;

fastenings G applied to the sections A, A and serving to hold themtogether; and a filling of cast metal between the sleeve and the railsand fused to both.

5. In combination with the proximate ends of two rails; alongitudinally-divided sleeve extending beneath and upward beside saidends; projections extending'inward from the members of the sleeve towardthe webs of the rails; and a illing 'of metal introduced within thesleeve and united by fusion to the sleeve and rails.

6. The combination of a pair of rail ends; a jacket adjusted to the railends; adjustingbolts passing transversely through openings in the websof the rail-sections and through the sides of the jacket; and -a body ofmetal molded in the jacket, Oand adhering to said jacket and to the railends.

In testimony whereof I ax my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM J. AUSTIN.

Witnesses:

JAS. B. ERWIN, WM. W. GILLESPIE.

sns

